The Revived
by raresnowcat
Summary: As Nagato resurrects the Leaf village, an unlikely man is caught up in the jutsu. However, he is not in his village and Konoha sees him as the enemy. A kunoichi comes across him, who has witnessed the hateful crimes he has committed. Will she kill the man or allow him to live? What will the village think? Pein/OC
1. The Encounter

Hi~ I'm Raresnowcat and this is a new story :3 I look forward to comments (even if their critical XD) Just a side note: Yahiko is a little OOC, simply because I wanted him to appear more serious. Since in the anime, he is described as having a personality similar to Naruto, who we all know is not serious lol.

I **do not own Naruto or its characters**, *However I do own Mei, who is my OC.*

**Background Information (Spoilers): **This story takes place near the end of the invasion of Pein. With the death of so many Akatsuki members, Nagato decides to take things into his own hands and retrieve the jinchuriki himself. Through the six paths of Pein, Nagato invades Konoha with Konan, eventually destroying the village in search of Naruto.

When Naruto finally arrives, much of the villagers are dead and the village is nonexistent. After fighting the six paths and succeeding in destroying all of them, Naruto goes in search of the manipulator of the paths. Naruto convinces Nagato that he will find peace through different, less corrupt means and Nagato puts his trust in the young man. Nagato uses a reviving technique through the gates of hell and revives all of the dead villagers for Naruto, killing himself in the process.

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"I believe I will put my trust in you, perhaps you were the child of prophecy." Nagato said, as he weaved a few complicated hand signals.

"Nagato you can't, you've used up too much chakra!" Konan warned.

"What's he doing?" Naruto asked, tensing.

"I will heal your village…" Nagato said, breathing heavy from the stress of the jutsu.

"Nagato is able to control both life and death." Konan said.

Naruto watched as the thin red haired man began the jutsu. How he was able to do so much with the pillars protruding from his back astounded the blonde.

"Gedo rinne tensei no jutsu." Nagato said, falling forward.

Konan quickly caught him and the man continued to pant until his breathing stopped. Konan brushed the hair from his eyes sadly and then returned her attention to a stunned Naruto.

"He has given his life for your cause Naruto. If he believes that you are able to bring peace, then I will give you my trust as well. I have no interest in Akatsuki anymore; Nagato and Yahiko were my only reason for following them. Without them, I have no reason to go back…" Konan said, unraveling a few pieces of paper from her body.

Naruto watched as the beautiful blue haired kunoichi walked up to him. The pieces of paper that had disengaged themselves from her, formed into a bouquet. She handed him the flowers and Naruto took them.

"Go back to your village and remember your promise for peace." Konan said.

Naruto nodded and left the tree made of paper. He quickly returned to his broken village.

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Back in Konoha:

It was mid day and the blood curdling screams of the civilians and ninja, still defiled the air, even though Naruto had killed Pein. The hundreds of people still buried under the rubble tormented us. The ones who had escaped wailed in pain and sorrow.

"There are so many…" One medic said to another.

"I know." A young medic with green shoulder length hair tied in a bun said.

The woman was tending to a man that she had pulled from the destruction. All that were able to help were on the field, which included even the newer medical ninja. Someone threw up next to her, disgusted with the wound the man had. There was a gaping whole in his chest and saving him was hopeless, with her skill level and chakra depletion.

"Mei… This one isn't going to make it." Ino said.

"I know." The green haired woman replied, her red eyes flashing in sorrow.

She left the man to his family, whom he had saved from a collapsing building. There were others that needed to be rescued and medics could not afford to linger on the dead.

Mei walked into the pile of debris and had to look away from the innocent child, who had been impaled through the chest by a pipe. She continued on until she heard a cry. Lifting a piece of a fallen roof, the red eyed woman found a half conscious woman.

"I need some help over here!" Mei yelled.

"Another?" A nurse asked, near a makeshift building for the injured.

The green haired woman didn't even bother answering the nurse; of coarse it was another victim. Leaning down she pushed some wood off the woman.

"Can you hear me? My name is Mei. Can you speak, open your eyes, lift your hand, just give me some indication you understand?" The medic said.

The woman opened her mouth and gurgled, then opened her eyes in comprehension, before closing her eyes again. The rubble shifted behind the woman and she turned around to look at the person who would be helping her. The young man had a makeshift medical stretcher with him and the green haired girl nodded in approval.

"H-how can I help?" The young blonde man asked.

"I need you to help me pick her up." Mei said.

"Okay." He said.

"She may have some neck or spinal injuries, so I'm going to hold her neck and you are going to gently lift her up." The medic ninja said. Although the process was not standard, it was better than nothing and they had nothing.

The man nodded and she held the woman's neck straight. He pulled up and the woman cried out in pain.

"Slowly." She repeated, patiently.

"H-hai." He whispered.

Once the woman was out of the hole, she was set onto the stretcher. Still holding her neck in place, the blonde haired man and green haired woman were able to move her to the medical barrack.

Along the way, Mei's eyes traveled to the child that had been impaled. She gaped at her and paused unknowingly; the girl was no longer impaled and was looking around in fear. The blonde looked at Mei questioningly.

"I need a ninja to retrieve this girl!" Mei yelled, trying to compose herself and gesturing to the young girl. Maybe she was just tired, but that girl had definitely been dead, at least she thought so.

He followed her finger and looked at the child. How had he missed her earlier?

"There is a young girl that needs to be looked after." He yelled as well.

Then the two continued to the medical center with the woman. Once they arrived, Mei focused her attention back on her patient, dismissing the sighting earlier as sleep deprivation.

"She needs a makeshift brace on her neck and may need something if she has internal damage." Mei said, red eyes flashing to the blonde man.

"What should I get?" He asked.

"Two short pieces of wood and some rope, for now." She told him.

Placing a hand over the woman, Mei probed her internal organs for damage. Most of the internal organs in her chest and stomach where bruised, but she would live.

"Mei! Go home, you worked three shifts!" Sakura yelled at the green haired woman.

Since Shizune had died and Tsunade was incapacitated, the pink haired kunoichi had taken charge.

"I can still work! There are still people out there!" Mei snapped back.

"Your dead on your feet, your chakra is almost depleted, I can feel it. You need a break, we don't need you laying on one of these beds too!" Sakura said, eyeing the young woman.

"Fine, after I get this patient bandaged." Mei said, growling to herself.

Sakura sighed, but didn't argue with the headstrong woman. At least she had agreed to stop.

A ninja walked into the barracks with the small child from earlier and Mei glanced at her. She seemed fine, although a little battered and bruised. How was it possible?

"I have the stuff!" The blonde ninja said, running over to the young woman and breaking her thoughts.

"Thank you." She said.

Taking the wood, she placed the two pieces on either side of the woman's neck. She then secured them with the rope. It wasn't perfect but it would have to work. She then dismissed the ninja and bandaged the woman's bruised body.

The child was taken to a bed to be checked up and to see who her parents were. Mei sighed and decided not to dwell on the girl; it would make her crazy.

"Sakura! There is an urgent matter that you need to be aware of!" A woman said

"Okay, I'm coming... Go home Mei!" Sakura said, talking to both Mei and the other woman.

Mei sighed and retreated, walking off.

"Make sure she goes home." Sakura told the blonde ninja, before walking over to the woman from earlier that had demanded her attention.

"Yes." He said.

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As the young woman returned to her new home, a simple tent, she heard a branch crunch behind her. Snapping her head around and fingering her pocket she looked for the culprit.

The blonde ninja from earlier was standing there, with his leg still lifted slightly, as he had tried to creep after the woman.

"Did Sakura send you? I'm going home." She told him firmly.

"I have to follow her orders." He said.

Turning around she continued walking, simply resigning to the fact that he wasn't leaving until she was home.

"What's your name?" She asked, trying to make conversation.

"Oliver… And yours is Mei?" He asked.

"That's a nice name, and yes my name is Mei." She replied.

"Thank you, Mei is a pretty name too." He said, blushing slightly.

Finally, they came to an area just out of the Hidden leaf village. Multiple tents were set up, for both families and teams. Oliver watched as she continued on through, not stopping in the camp and continuing into the forest.

After a few turns and five minutes later a small camp came into view. One small tent was visible, with an unlit fire pit near by.

"You live so far away." He said in surprise.

"I'm no the most social and I like the quiet." She said dryly.

"I see…" He said.

"Well you can go now, Oliver." the woman said, her red eyes flashing at him.

"O-okay…" He said, before leaving

Mei sighed and walked over to the tent. It was a poor excuse for a home. The man that had destroyed the village had not been merciful. He had destroyed everything in his wake and left nothing for the survivors.

Even though it was still mid day, Mei couldn't deny that she was tired. Working three shifts was hard. She didn't necessarily have a lot of chakra and the job was stressing. That could be interpreted from her delusional state with the girl. She could have sworn she was impaled…

Crawling into the tent and getting into her sleeping bag, the young woman closed her eyes and fell asleep. As much as she would have liked to stay and help more people, she really was tired.

Mei woke up in surprise to a crunching sound outside. Pulling out a kunai she inched over to the door and glanced out. It was dark, probably around nine o'clock, so it was hard to see at first. There was a figure standing near her door, his back was to her and she took the opportunity to crawl out.

Walking up behind him, she wrapped her slender arms around his neck, holding the kunai to his throat.

"What do you want?" She growled.

The person yelled in surprise and Mei narrowed her eyes.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked.

"Ah, Uhm, I'm sorry I was just checking up on you." Oliver said, his heart still racing.

"Go home." Mei sighed, releasing the man.

The blonde scrambled away and returned to wherever he had come from. Sighing, the woman ran a finger through her hair. She hadn't realized that she had been holding her breath until now and laughed quietly to herself.

"It was just Oliver." She mused.

Turning around her eyes widened in surprise, a dark figure was standing by her tent.

"That's not funny Oliver." Mei said nervously, narrowing her eyes and trying to get a look at the shadowy figure.

"Konan… I'm so glad." The figure said, his deep voice now recognized as being a male's.

She stared at him in surprise. Konan? He hunched forward and fell on the ground. Cautiously, she walked over to him, lighting a match as she went. As soon as she could visibly see him, she gasped.

Mei backed away from the man. There was no mistaking him, his orange hair, that cloak…

"Pein!" She said, moving behind a tree wearily.

Although she didn't have much skill in fighting, she usually didn't scare easily. About her only defenses were a single summons and her taijutsu. Being a medic she naturally disliked fighting and it usually wasn't a necessity for medics to fight anyway. So learning to do so, had not really crossed her mind as necessary.

Making some hand signals she summoned her familiar. A phoenix appeared, its red feathers glowing in the darkness. The bird was beautiful; although not very big it could breathe a considerable amount of fire. The deep red eyes of the bird matched its owner's and it flew up to her.

Mei peered around the tree and glared at the man on the ground. She was almost positive that he was injured and in his current state, he would be easy to kill. She walked over to him and crouched down.

The phoenix flew down and inspected the man as well. He was still breathing, but not for long. Flipping him over, she stared at him. He looked so…happy.

"Why are you so happy?" She questioned him angrily.

"…"

"You fucking destroyed my village!" She yelled at him, although he still did not answer her, obviously unconscious.

She kicked him and his body rolled over, forcing his face into the dirt. He was so vulnerable…

The man moaned and what could be seen of his face contorted in pain. His cloak was ripped and just barely hanging onto his body, the only clothing that was still intact were his shorts. There was bruising and burns all over his body as well, no doubt from Naruto.

He made that pitiful noise again and Mei sighed. She wouldn't be able to kill him, she should, but she couldn't.

Pinching her nose in annoyance, she leaned over him again, grabbing his arm. She dragged him into her tent and onto her bedroll. Unceremoniously dumping him there, not worried about any pain he might have felt. The bastard deserved it in her view.

"You'd better not kill me." She grumbled.

She found her pack thanks to the light glowing from the phoenix's wings and pulled out some bandages. The phoenix inspected the man again and squawked at her.

"I know Glare, he isn't someone I should be helping." Mei whispered.

Walking back over to the Akatsuki member she wrapped the bandages around his stomach tightly, not trying to be gentle with the injured man. Once he was securely bandaged, she moved away from him.

There was no way she would be able to go to sleep now, so she left the tent, hoping the man would disappear while she helped the people he had crushed.

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"Mei! Why are you back so soon?" Sakura called.

"Because, your nagging form haunted my dreams and woke me up, so I decided to be productive." Mei called back, sarcastically.

"…Well I need to talk to you anyway." The pink haired woman said, eye twitching as she walked into the tent, trying to ignore the comment.

The green haired woman walked over to the tent that the pink haired woman was occupying and walked in.

Her eyes immediately focused on the black haired woman's face.

"Mei, so glad your safe." Shizune said.

"Shizune?" Mei questioned, looking at Sakura questioningly.

"Not just her" Sakura said, gesturing to other beds in the room, with patients that had been pronounced dead.

"How?" Mei asked.

"Naruto said that he talked to the person controlling the Pein's and that the man revived all of the leaf ninja. Although, he died using the jutsu to do it…" Sakura said, trailing off.

'Died? No that was impossible! If he was dead then how was the Deva path sleeping on my bed?' Mei thought to herself.

"Weird isn't it?" Sakura said.

"No… It makes sense now… The girl that I found yesterday was completely impaled when I first saw her. On the way back though, she was looking around and definitely alive." The red eyed woman said, thinking back to the young girl.

"Oh, I see." Sakura said, slightly unhappy that she hadn't surprised Mei.

"I'm going to go help some more people. Although the dead have been revived, it doesn't mean they aren't trapped. Those that were injured are still out there as well" Mei said, distractedly.

'How is he alive?' The thought echoed through her head…

She moved through the debris again and searched through the rubble.

"Is it possible for the jutsu to have worked on him as well? If so then who is he?" She said out loud.

There was no one in the area anyway, so talking aloud wasn't going to hurt anything. As she continued to walk, a moan was heard and she moved over to help the victim.

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Thoughts? Opinions? Tell me what you think? I tend to make concessions to the commenters :3 Don't be shy, I love comments ^::^


	2. Revelations

Update~

**I do not own Naruto or its characters, ***however I do own my OC's Mei and Oliver.*

Ages:

Mei: 22

Yahiko: 29

Oliver: 18

Other characters retain the same ages.

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"Wait, Mei!" Oliver said, running after her.

"Go home Oliver." Mei said, turning around to glare at the ninja that was following her.

"But Sakura said-" The blonde started.

"Do I look like I care what she said; I'm almost home why do you need to follow me! I'm too tired to continue working, even I know that, do I really look like I'm going to go anywhere else?!" The woman snarled, glancing at him in irritation.

"But…" Oliver said.

"Go home." Mei said, reigning in her temper.

The young man stood there for a moment, blue eyes weighing his options. Finally he sighed and walked away, leaving Mei. The green haired woman watched him leave and then continued.

She didn't necessarily dislike the teen; it was just that if he knew that she was harboring a criminal, she wouldn't be very well off. The village elders would probably call it a traitorous act and have her either killed or thrown in jail.

Walking back to her tent, she peeked inside, checking to see if the Akatsuki member was awake. He was still unconscious on her bedroll. Double checking to make sure he wasn't a threat, she walked in.

Pulling out her backpack, which contained her necessities, she found an extra bedroll. She set the sleeping item as far away from Pein as possible in the small tent and then curled up into it tiredly.

She had rescued ten more people from the time she had left her tent the night before, until early into the next morning. The majority of them had minor injuries, so they were allowed to find their family and friends.

Some ninja were beginning to remove the debris from the village and others were starting to re-level the crater near the middle of the village. The number of people still unaccounted for was diminishing and it made Mei's job easier. Most of the patients that had been revived, needed very little attention, so they were helping to repair the village as well.

For as much damage as the man sleeping next to her had caused, he hadn't broken the spirits of the people. With a little more time, the village would be cleared of rubble and the process of rebuilding could ensue. It would take time, but the village was recovering.

Mei laid there awake for a while, even though she was tired. It was mostly because she was in the same tent as an S-class criminal, but finally her eyes began to close and she fell asleep.

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"Konan…?" a voice groaned.

Mei opened her eyes and glared at the still sleeping man, grouchily. He had woken her up and that did not bode well with the young woman.

His breathing was ragged and his face was contorted in a look of agony. Mei stood up and walked over to the man. As much as she disliked him, she couldn't just leave him to his suffering.

The behavior he was displaying was so uncharacteristic. During the fights with the villagers, no matter how many hits he took, he never showed any pain. Yet here he was writhing in agony and calling out to some woman.

"Hey… wake up." Mei grumbled, shaking his shoulder.

He didn't respond and she pulled the blanket off of him. He had been sweating and the blanket stuck to his wet skin. As soon as it was off, Mei noticed the blood soaking through his bandages.

"Shit, how did this happen?" The green haired girl groaned.

He had burns and bruising when she first found him, but no flesh wounds. Unwrapping the bandages, she peered at his bloody flesh. His burns were infected and bleeding and Mei cursed herself. It was technically her fault, without tending to the burns; they had succumbed to a bacterium.

She got a rag and wetted it with a bottle of water, she then dabbed at the wound, removing the blood and puss surrounding the burn. Once she was satisfied, she moved over to her medic bag and found some burn medication. She rubbed the cool cream on his wounds and the Akatsuki member breathed a soft sigh.

Pulling a few bandages out of her bag, she placed them on his burns. They had holes in them, so that the wound could breath and it would help with the infection as well. She then pulled out a syringe and a bottle of antibiotics to fight the bacteria. She inspected the liquid in the syringe for a moment, making sure she had the right amount and then she brought it over to his arm. She wiped the skin down with an antibacterial wipe and then stuck the needle in his arm, injecting the medication. Once satisfied, Mei looked over at the males face.

His eyes were open and he was watching her. She was startled and jumped away from him uncertainly. Looking closer at his face, she realized that the dull grey color of his eyes was gone. The old color being replaced by a light blue color, which suited his features better.

"Who are you?" He asked, his voice raspy and his face stoic.

"… Mei." She said wearily.

"Mei~" He said, testing the name out.

"Are you new to the Akatsuki?" He asked.

"No, I am a leaf ninja, who happened to encounter your sorry ass." Mei said sarcastically. He chuckled lightly at her and Mei stared at him in surprise, she had never seen him so much as smile before and here he was laughing.

"Ah, well I seem to be indebted to you." He said, his voice still rugged from his infection.

Mei looked at him utterly confused; this was the leader of Akatsuki? How had he changed from such a stuck up prick during battle, to this more likeable person?

He sat up carefully and winced slightly with the action.

"I really did some damage to myself… didn't think I would live." he remarked, trying not to wince.

"Don't move to quickly, if you reopen that wound I'll kill you." Mei said.

"I'm Yahiko by the way." He said suddenly.

"Yahiko, well I suppose that's a better name than Pein." She grumbled. The alias he always used was not right for him.

"Pein?" He asked.

The woman studied him for a moment, was he joking? No, he was being sincere, he honestly had no idea.

"Tell me, how did you receive these wounds?" The red eyed woman asked him, already knowing the answer, but seeing if he did.

"I stabbed myself to save a companion." Yahiko said, face returning to a more serious look.

Mei raised an eyebrow at him. His response could only mean one thing, he was not the same man that had destroyed her village and he had no idea what had occurred over the past year.

"Do those piercings hurt?" She asked, testing him.

"Piercings?" He asked, reaching up to his face.

He felt the metal rods sticking out of his face and he gave her a confused look.

"Did you do this?" He asked, unhappily.

"No, they were there when I found you." Mei told him patiently.

He began to pull on the metal and as the first one came out, he started bleeding. She narrowed her eyes and reached out to stop his pulling.

"That's not helping." Mei told him.

Bringing her hand up, she healed the bleeding wound. She then carefully pulled out the other. He flinched and was clearly holding back a pained expression. After she had removed all of the rods in his nose, she healed the holes. The skin was still slightly pierced, but overtime it would heal.

"Do you want me to remove the rest?" the woman questioned.

"Yes." He said.

The studs on his lower lip would be easy to remove and would heal naturally. After pulling them out, she moved on to his ears. The piercings on the sides of his ears were similar to the lip piercings, so she pulled them out and left them to heal on there own.

The large metal bar going from the top of his ear through the bottom was different though, she would have to heal it after she pulled it out. Yahiko winced as the metal was pulled out, but didn't say anything.

Once she had finished both ears, she pulled away from him.

"Thank you." He said, sounding relieved.

"Do you know the purpose of those?" She asked him.

He studied her for a moment; she knew more than she was letting on.

"No." He said.

"They are chakra receivers…" Mei said, catching his eyes.

"…"

He seemed to be contemplating something and Mei watched him curiously. If he could figure it out by himself, it would save her a partial explanation that she hadn't quite pieced together herself.

Yahiko recalled Nagato and the abilities the red haired man had attained through the rinnegan. Yahiko had never wanted the man to attempt to use the one he was thinking of. However, if he himself had died, then Nagato may have used it.

"I died…" He said, looking at the young woman in front of him.

"Yes, you did..." The woman said slowly,

"Someone controlled me?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes, someone powerful… they wielded the rinnegan." Mei told him.

"What happened to him?" Yahiko asked, closing his eyes. All the while suspecting that the man who had been his best friend, was probably dead.

"The man destroyed my village in search for our jinchuriki Naruto, but he underestimated him. Naruto incapacitated the six paths, or rather you and five other bodies and then went in search of the controller… Apparently Naruto convinced the man to stop his actions. Then the man decided to revive the people he had killed, killing himself in the process." The red eyed woman told him, judging his reaction throughout the explanation, incase he should see her as an enemy.

He opened his sorrowful eyes again and they landed on her face.

"And the woman?" He asked.

"Woman?" Mei asked.

"She had blue hair and a white rose, here." He said, gesturing to the side of his head.

"I don't know… her body has not been recovered." Mei told him gently, not realizing she had begun to sympathize with him, like she did with other patients.

He blinked at the green haired woman and the utter hopelessness reflected there was saddening. She couldn't look at him anymore, it was too much. The man that had destroyed her village was sad and she felt empathy for him.

"I see…" Yahiko said miserably.

"Do you want me to get the rest of those piercing out?" The woman asked, trying to move away from the subject.

"Others?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

She poked a rod near his collar bone and Yahiko looked down.

"Yes." he said.

Gripping the rod she pulled, it popped out and the sound that it made was sickening. His eyes were closed again and he was clenching his teeth and bunching his hands. The rods were bigger here and thus the healing took longer. After finishing with the ones on his neck, she moved over to his arms.

The receivers went strait through his lower arms and wrist; it would be painful to remove without some sort of drug.

"Should I anesthetize you for these?" Mei asked.

"No." He said, looking at the rods.

Healing skin was one thing, but bone was entirely different. With these implanted the way they were, it would be necessary to do some bone repair. She pulled out the first rod and Yahiko muffled a cry of agony.

"I'm sorry." She said, dabbing at the wound. With all of the healing of bone that she would have to do, healing the skin around it would be impossible. Mei simply didn't have the chakra to complete both tasks. After healing the bone, she reached into her medic bag and pulled out some antiseptic to prevent anymore infection and some bandages.

After dabbing the ointment on and bandaging the wound, she looked at him. He was miserable, but he nodded for her to continue.

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It took an hour to complete both arms and Yahiko had eventually passed out from the suffering. Mei looked at him tiredly, her chakra was totally depleted and she was drowsy. She tried to stand up and then blacked out on his lap.

When she woke up again, Yahiko was sitting up on his bed roll and she was in her own again. 'He must have moved me.' Mei thought, as she sat up and looked at him.

"Do your arms hurt?" She asked him, mostly out of embarrassment for her earlier actions. Falling asleep on a patient, especially a dangerous one, was never something that a medic did.

"Not that bad…" He responded, although he sounded like he was in pain.

It made sense, he had infected burns that undoubtedly hurt and then the rods that she had removed were just as bad.

"I found some more metal." He said, gesturing to his legs.

Mei inched over to him, her chakra was just starting to restore itself and healing more wounds wasn't really something she could do at the moment.

The metal was in his calves and they didn't seem to penetrate through any bone.

"Are these the only ones?" Mei asked him.

"Yes, unless I missed one." Yahiko said.

"These are easy enough to remove that I can do them now." She told him.

"Okay." He said.

She pulled the two rods out of his muscle and then healed them with her chakra. The whole thing took less than ten minutes and Yahiko hadn't expressed too much pain.

She looked at his arms and found that they weren't bleeding as badly as she would have thought. The bandages there didn't need to be changed, so she moved back over to her bed and laid down.

Outside a few crunches from leaves could be heard in the distance. Mei stiffened and brought her finger up to her lips. He got the message and remained silent, even managing to mask his chakra.

"Mei?" The voice asked.

"What Oliver?" Mei asked, sighing.

"You didn't come to work and Sakura was worried." He said, standing outside the tent.

"I think I'm coming down with something, so I'm taking the day off." Mei told him.

"Oh, is there anyway I can help?" The blonde asked, reaching for the tent door.

"No! It's contagious; I don't want you sick too. You are needed by the village right now." She told him stiffly.

"O-okay, hope you feel better." He murmured and then walked away.

Once the crunching of his shoes were gone, Mei sighed and leaned back.

"Is that your boyfriend?" Yahiko asked.

"No, he's just a kid that keeps getting assigned to me. My supervisor likes to check up on me, to make sure I do what she asks." Mei said

He nodded in understanding; he had done the same for Nagato and Konan. He needed to find Konan, but in his condition he wasn't going anywhere. But from what he had gathered from Mei, he wasn't welcome here and it was just a matter of time before he was caught.

The situation wouldn't bout well for Mei either and he didn't want her to get in trouble. Why had she even saved him anyway? He was the enemy and surely he had harmed someone she loved. Maybe not willingly, but he had still done it.

"Why did you save me earlier?" Yahiko asked, the rasp in his voice beginning to diminish as his infection healed.

"…I don't really know. I'm a medic and you were injured, I suppose I just couldn't bring myself to kill you." Mei told him tiredly.

She yawned and he realized that she was tired. She needed to rest because she had healed him. The young woman had done nothing but help him and he had nothing to offer in return…

Yahiko got into the bedroll and closed his eyes as well, for the moment he needed rest.

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Yahiko awoke to loud laughter and crunching leaves. The sound was coming towards the tent and he peered over at the green haired woman next to him. Her hair was tousled and her breathing indicated that she was asleep.

"Hey, that hot nurse with the green hair, they say she's a virgin." One of the men said, drunkenly.

"Really? Think one of us will get lucky?" Another asked.

"I don't know, but we have to be gentlemen or a classy lady like her will never go for us." The other laughed.

Yahiko narrowed his eyes, the men were disgusting. He started to get up, to deal with them, but they started talking again.

"Medic~" One of them cooed.

Mei opened her eyes and sat up, her red eyes flashing towards the sound. Yahiko glanced over at her, she was a light sleeper.

"Yoohoo!" The other called.

"Get the fuck away from my tent." Mei growled.

"Oh, she's feisty." the other snickered.

The green haired woman stood up and exited the tent, closing the door securely.

A man with short brown hair whistled and the other black hired man appraised her as well.

"So listen-" The black haired man started.

Mei smiled at him and he stopped talking.

"No, you listen… I'm going to kill both of you if you don't leave now." The green haired woman said, easily.

The men frowned at her and seemed to process her statement. She reached for a kunai and threw it just past the brown haired mans face. His eyes widened and he stepped back.

"She's trying to kill us dude!" The black haired guy said to his friend before turning around and running.

The other man turned tail and ran as well. Mei glowered and then walked back over to the tent. She opened the door and sluggishly dragged herself back over to her bedroll.

Yahiko was chuckling and Mei peered at him.

"You sure can handle yourself." He said, smiling slightly.

"Dam right." the tired woman said.

She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep again. He had to admit that the drunken men had good taste, Mei was headstrong and beautiful, not to mention slightly dangerous.

Almost like Konan, although, Konan was much less vocal. Thinking about the blue haired woman made him frown, he missed her. Although he had no idea how she felt now, they had been lovers at one time.

As he was thinking about Konan he fell asleep again.

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Mei woke up a few hours later and stretched. Yahiko was still asleep and she wondered what she was going to do about him. He couldn't stay; it would put both of them in danger.

It was noon and she decided it was time to get up. She moved over to her pack and found a few cans of soup. She pulled them out and then glanced over at the sleeping Akatsuki member. He was probably hungry.

Walking outside, Mei started a fire. She pulled out a pan and put the soup in it. It didn't taste the best, but it was better than nothing and at the moment that was all there was.

She sat down on a log and waited for the soup to heat up. Glare chirped from a tree next to her and Mei looked up at the bird.

It flew down and landed on her shoulder, eyeing the tent.

"Yes, he's still here." Mei told him.

The bird blinked and then began preening Mei's green hair. Mei didn't bother with removing Glare. He would return to continue his attention, either way.

The tent opened and Yahiko walked out, he blinked at the scene. A big red bird was sitting on Mei's shoulder and playing with her hair.

The red eyed woman chuckled at his dumbstruck expression.

The phoenix turned his attention over to Yahiko and then flew over to him. He perched on his shoulder and brought his head down to look at his chest and arms. He squawked and then looked at Mei, clicking his beak.

"He wants me to look at your wounds." The woman told Yahiko.

She walked over and looked at the wounds. His arm bandages where soaked in blood, but his chest was still fine.

Unwinding the arm bandages, Mei dabbed at the wounds with a napkin. They weren't infected, they were just bloody. She used her chakra to heal the wounds, since she had replenished the majority of it as she slept.

Turning to the other arm, she repeated the same process and Yahiko watched in silence. Once she was finished she walked back to the tent to get something to wash her hands off with.

When she walked out again, Yahiko was stirring the soup. She pulled out a few bowls and then served Yahiko and herself. Glare chirped again and Mei reached into her pocket for some food for the bird. She handed him a few nuts and berries and he grasped them with his foot and gently took a nut in his mouth from her hand.

The three ate in silence, except for the occasional sound of a nut cracking in the bird's beak.

"I should leave soon." Yahiko said.

"Yes, you can't stay much longer." Mei told him.

"Thank you for your hospitality." He continued, keeping his face blank.

Mei just nodded in acknowledgment.

"Mei, who are you talking to?" A male's voice asked, running into camp.

He froze when he saw the orange haired man sitting next to Mei, although the piercings were missing, it was clearly Pein.

Mei sat up and looked at the male in surprise. Yahiko stood up as well, his face in its usual stoic expression, around those he didn't know.

"Get away from her!" He yelled.

"Oliver! It isn't who you think it is." The green haired woman lied steadily.

"Don't joke with me, that's Pein." He said, reaching for Mei's arm.

She stayed out of his reach and stood in front of Yahiko.

"I'll buy you some time." She told him.

Yahiko frowned and shook his head in defiance.

"I owe you for your help; I can't leave you to this fate." He said easily.

The yelling had caused other ninja to appear and they quickly surrounded the orange haired male. Mei was quickly pinned to the ground and Yahiko was restrained and taken away.

"Fool…" She murmured, before being hit in the back of the head by one of the ninja.

"Can't believe she would betray us." One ninja said.

Mei tried to stay conscious but blacked out, and Yahiko didn't fight the ninja that had captured him.

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Comments? Tell me your thoughts about the story, or I will abandon it. School is starting soon and it would be a pain if I wrote this with no response.


	3. Cells

Wow, sorry for not updating in like a hundred years X3. I have been swamped with school, that and I had a terrible case of writers block. I also realized that I have the worst grammar and the worst story plot in the world, so I might rewrite the first two chapters…I don't know yet… Any who, my updates are going to be random and spastic due to school and my inability to write a decent chapter. Thanks for all the reviews :D Your responses got my butt back in gear :3

**I do not own Naruto or the characters ***except for my OC's Mei and Oliver*

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'It's cold. My wrists and head ache and the rest of my body is numb…' Mei thought to herself as she slowly cracked an eye open.

She was in a dark room with no windows, only one light lit the corner of the room to illuminate the dark pit she had been cast into. Most people would probably be grateful for the slight penetration of light in the gloom, however Mei was not.

The light only managed to illustrate just how disgusting her surroundings were. Rust, blood and other assortments of dried goop clung to the walls. The floor was wet with something that was best not looked into and the stench of rotting meat fowled the air.

The room was no doubt a prison and probably a torture chamber used to interrogate the lowest criminals: those that committed heinous crimes and those that betrayed their country. She knew which category she fell under.

Mei sighed and licked her dry and cracked lips. Her arms were sore from the chains that bound her too the ceiling and she slowly stood in order to alleviate some of the stress forced on them.

She had no idea how long she had been in the room, her last memory consisting of being knocked out as Yahiko was captured. Judging from her weak state and stiff body though, Mei assumed that she had been in this pit for over a few days.

Besides the cold room, some stiff joints, and growing thirst though, Mei was fine. Her captors had not harmed her in any way, which meant that she was still needed for something. Perhaps they wished to get information from her on the man that had collapsed outside her 'home.' Or perhaps they were simply planning to let her rot in the dungeon until her corpse was deemed necessary for removal. Regardless, she was still alive and that had to mean something.

She watched the slop covering her room drip and ooze down the sides of her cell, as a leak from the ceiling removed clumps of the putrid slime. She didn't know how long she stood there watching the walls, but eventually Mei drifted back into sleep.

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The thud of a door slamming against the wall woke Mei up. No windows meant that she could not judge the time, however she had an idea. It was too fucking early. She cracked a bloodshot eye at the intruder.

Mei had to blink a few times in order to see who it was though, this due to her blurry vision from being neglected. The man was tall with dark hair and had two scars running across his cheeks. Mei immediately placed him as Ibiki, someone who most people tended to avoid. He was the leafs ruthless interrogator, who tended to use torture way too often.

Footsteps could be heard down the hall and Mei narrowed her eyes in wait of the second person.

"Is she up yet?" A female asked, walking into the room.

"See for yourself." Ibiki said.

Shizune peered around the tall man and blinked at Mei. She took note of Mei's poor health and sanitation warily.

"It's not polite to stare." Mei rasped.

Shizune looked like she was about to break out in tears and Mei rolled her eyes. Her coworker could be rather sensitive at times. Mei's eyes traveled to the other person in the room, who was looking at her intensely. One might have interpreted his look to be malicious, but it was just a well played mask that was used to intimidate.

"Are you going to interrogate me or just stare at me." Mei grumbled at Ibiki, who seemed to be assessing her soul with his scowl .

"Yes." he said walking over to her.

Shizune moved out of the way and then gave Mei a sympathetic look. Ibiki stood in front of Mei eye to eye with her, trying to scare her into submission.

"If you aren't compliant with any of the questions I ask, I will resort to other methods." Ibiki said, looking at Mei indifferently.

Shizune frowned at this but didn't comment. Mei kept a calm look on her face, not showing any fear. The man was intimidating, but she didn't have a reason to be fearful of him.

"I have nothing to hide from my village, ask me whatever you wish." The red eyed woman grumbled, clearing her throat.

"You healed and housed the Akatsuki member Pein, correct?" Ibiki asked.

"Yes, although the member that I was with and the one that you are referring to are different." Mei told him.

"What do you mean by that?" Ibiki asked.

"I mean that the man I was with was not Pein, but another." Mei said.

"You are implying that the orange haired man, who has been confirmed as Pein by eye witnesses, and is wearing the incriminating Akatsuki cloak is not Pein?" He asked in disbelief.

"Well, I suppose I should reiterate. Pein was a being that was controlled by a user who is now dead. Thus it is impossible for the man you are referring to, to be Pein. Which I can prove, simply because the rinnegan is no longer coloring his eyes." Mei explained.

"Then tell me, who is he?" Ibiki asked rather annoyed.

"Why does it matter?" Mei asked, pleased that she was pissing the older man off.

"I'm asking the questions and you are to answer or face the consequences." Ibiki said stiffly. His hand beginning to clench in agitation.

Shizune looked at him in horror, but did not speak up about her concerns.

"Yahiko." Mei said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes from his weak threat.

"Why did you help 'Yahiko'?" Ibiki asked, humoring Mei.

"To be honest I have no idea. Probably because he was injured and I'm a medic, leaving someone to die isn't in my nature." Mei said, becoming annoyed with the pointless questions and her restricted arms.

"Did he force you to help him?" Ibiki asked.

"No, the fool mistook me for another and then passed out, he couldn't have forced anyone to do anything." Mei snorted.

"Why would you betray the village to save a criminal?" Ibiki asked.

Mei scowled at this question. She didn't consider herself a trader for saving a person's life. Especially since that person hadn't done anything wrong… at least when he was in control of his body.

"I don't find my actions treasonous, I simply healed a man who needed help. He just happened to be an old Akatsuki member." Mei stated.

"That isn't considered treasonous to you? You healed a man that is considered an enemy by the village." Ibiki said, raising an eye brow.

"If you think it is, go ahead and tell your superiors, but Yahiko isn't a danger to us. Incase you weren't made aware, Yahiko didn't resist the men that captured him, he just stood there complacently and allowed them to tackle him." Mei growled.

"Did you have any kind of relationship with him?" Ibiki asked.

"I don't see how that is relevant, but I would consider him a friend." Mei said, frowning.

"We'll see if your information is accurate." Ibiki said, turning on his heels abruptly.

The man then began to stalk out of the room. Once he reached the door frame he asked Shizune to "tend to her," before continuing out of the room and down the dark hall.

"Are you alright?" Shizune asked Mei, with concern dripping in her voice.

"That depends, how long have I been in this cell?" Mei asked tiredly, roughly pulling at the chains.

"A week…" Shizune murmured.

Mei growled and pulled harder on the chains in irritation. A week? Ridiculous, whoever knocked her out was going to be paralyzed once she was out of this cell. Shizune watched the women before her in relief, if she still had enough energy to get this riled up, then she wasn't too badly hurt.

"Am I allowed to leave this shit hole?" Mei asked, breaking away from her devious thoughts.

"Danzo told me that as long as you were cooperative, you could leave the cell and return home. However, you will be on maximum security until you have proven your loyalty to Konoha." Shizune said, quoting the root leader.

"Danzo? I don't give a dam about what he thinks, what about Tsunade?" Mei asked.

"She hasn't woken up yet, so the elders declared Danzo the new hokage." Shizune said, worry pricking in her voice.

"Alright, what about Yahiko." Mei said, irritated about her lack of knowledge about the village.

"He's in a cell down the hall…" Shizune said, still uncomfortable with the man that had destroyed the village.

"Can I visit him, if I look this shitty then he probably looks worse." Mei said, glancing down at her poor condition again.

"Technically no, but I've been treating him so, if you want I can sneak you in." Shizune said looking slightly nervous about breaking laws.

"Okay nice, can I get down now?" Mei asked

Shizune walked over and unlocked the cuffs on Mei's wrists. As her arms were released Shizune noticed the bruising on them and glanced away unhappily. It had not been her choice to put Mei in the cell, in fact she had argued against it.

Mei straightened her legs and put her hand against the wall for support. Not the best idea, she stuck her hand right into some of the sickly gunk hanging on the wall and immediately pulled away from it.

"That is so gross…" Mei said, wiping her hand on her clothing.

Shizune muffled her laughter and then walked over to the door and Mei followed. They walked down the hall to another cell door, equally rusty and grotesque to Mei's.

"This is it." Shizune said

Mei nodded and then opened the door. She walked in and glanced behind at Shizune who nodded, handed her a match and then closed the door after Mei. Once the match was lit Mei peered around the room, as her eyes adjusted though Mei was startled to see Yahiko.

The room was in about the same condition as hers had been, however there was no light illuminating the room and the walls and floor were covered in blood. Yahiko was chained to the ceiling as Mei had been and she almost gagged when the odor hit her.

Rotting flesh mixed with various bodily fluid infiltrated her nose. Due to a lack of sanitation from torture and no bathroom, the room was putrid. Not to say that hers had been much better, but at least the fresh coppery smell of blood, infection and barf were not as strongly combined.

Yahiko was not much better off than the room. He appeared to be unconscious probably due to being cut up, burnt, bruised, and mutilated. His back was completely bare to the foul air, and the deep cuts lining it suggested that he had been whipped. His normally handsome face was now cut up and bruised as well. His hair was covered in so much of his own blood that one might have thought he had red hair instead of orange.

Mei took a hesitant step forward, unsure of whether or not she wanted to peer at his deflated form any closer than she already was. Gathering her courage she strode on and touched his arm. It was clearly fractured and yet he was still dangling from the ceiling by it.

Mei closed her eyes in disgust, the immorality of all that she was witnessing was almost too much for her. She carefully reached up and untied the rope that was holding his arms. Apparently he was not good enough for chains. She then attempted to lower him to the ground, however with her weak state and his dead weight it was easier said than done.

Sitting down on the floor Mei rested his head on her legs. He groaned in his unconscious state and a look of pain crossed his wounded face. Mei gently lifted his arm and inspected it. She could heal it, but then his other wounds could not be tended to.

Mei sighed and then glanced at the door.

"Shizune!" Mei called.

The black haired women walked into the room and looked into horrified red eyes.

"I don't have enough chakra to heal all of his wounds…" Mei said.

Shizune walked over and took the arm that Mei was holding. The break was very messy and there was no way Mei could have healed it in her own state. Shizune took hold of his arm and then pulled, realigning the bone. Yahiko gasped, but did not wake up. Shizune then applied healing chakra to it, in order to stem the pain and quicken the healing process.

"Thank you." Mei said, looking at her superior with sad gratitude.

"It's fine, but you only have five or so more minutes before we have to go…" Shizune said, knowing that the guards would arrive soon to make sure Yahiko was still in his room.

"I'm taking him with me." Mei said firmly.

"You can't, he's still a criminal." Shizune murmured softly.

Mei stood up and pulled Yahiko off the gross floor. If he couldn't leave then he would at least have to be off the floor. Mei re-tied his arms to the ceiling, however she left him plenty of slack for more comfort. She would just have to heal him, once she had convinced Ibiki that Yahiko should be removed from his cell.

"Where is Ibiki? Once it's proven that this is Yahiko, he should be allowed to leave for at least some medical treatment." Mei growled, glancing up at Shizune.

Mei didn't wait for a response and simply left the room to find the man. She walked down the hall until she came to some stairs leading to a door. She pushed it open and was surprised to walk out into open air. In her hurried decision she had forgotten that the village was destroyed.

The only areas that had survived the destruction were underground. The only underground buildings consisted of jails. The vilage could now be characterized by rubble, which was slowly being removed so that eventually new buildings could be created.

A tent nearest to her had the letters 'interrogation' messily printed on it. Mei watched as Ibiki exited the poor excuse of a building meant for intimidation.

"Hey." she said, directing her voice at him

He turned around and walked over to her.

"Did you find the proof?" Mei asked.

"Yes, it was confirmed by rain that the deva path was indeed Yahiko." Ibiki said.

"Then let him out." Mei said.

"What?" Ibiki asked

"I'm sorry Ibiki, she just got out of my sight." Shizune said, coming up behind Mei.

"He needs medical attention." Mei growled.

"He is still a criminal." Ibiki stated.

"He really is in need of some serious medical attention." Shizune said, speaking up.

Ibiki sighed and blinked at the two women. Danzo was at the Kage Summit for a meeting and he didn't have orders to heal the man, but if the criminal in the cell wasn't who everyone thought he was and Shizune said he was in need of attention, then he probably did need it.

"Alright, I will allow him to receive attention as long as you take responsibility for him and her." Ibiki said to Shizune, gesturing to Mei at the end.

"Thank you." Shizune said sighing, although wondering what had she just gotten herself into.

"I will be having AMBU check up on you though and they are not to leave your home." Ibiki said.

Shizune nodded and Mei gave Ibiki an approving look. Then the scarred man turned and left, leaving the two women.

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Feels weird to write after like 4 months of nothing XD Thanks again to all my reviewers! My updates are going to be weird though, school is chaotic and horrible in fact I'm neglecting a speech that's due in a few days :/ Any who, I will continue to update…sometime. :3


	4. Awakening

Update~ Break is a beautiful thing XD I finally have some time to write and satisfy all of my readers (I hope). Anyway, thanks to everyone who commented on this story, your comments really do inspire me to write ^::^ Oooh right, I'm kind of writing this story blindly and have no idea where it's going, so if anyone has any suggestions I would be happy to hear them. Also I realize that my grammar is terrible, feel free to scold me for my horrible errors, I will fix them if someone points them out to me lol.

I do not own Naruto or the characters

(except for my OC's Mei and Oliver)

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"If you peak around that tree one more time, I'm going to kick your ass." Mei growled, looking in the direction of the AMBU.

The guard quickly ran off and Mei sighed. She was in a stream near the village, washing all of the grime and such off of herself. The area was isolated from the village, which was what Mei was going for. Large trees shrouded the area and other wildlife thrived near the flow of water. With the village still under construction, running water was not easy to come by. Thus, it was more practical to simply bathe in running water near by.

Finishing up, Mei stepped out of the water and loosely wrapped the towel around herself. It honestly didn't matter to Mei if the AMBU had seen her naked, it was just the constant surveillance that was irritating. Of course, she had agreed to Ibiki's proposal, so she couldn't really complain.

After drying off for the most part and tying her wet hair into a ponytail, Mei dressed and headed back to the village. Shizune would be wondering where she was and the AMBU would become suspicious if she didn't return quickly, even though they were constantly watching her every move.

_The village was beginning to look more like it used to, the debris was gone, except for a few scraps leftover in the farther reaches of the village. The people were now diligently working on rebuilding lost homes and businesses. Surprisingly, there was little complaint and genin were all too happy to help with the repairs._

The rebuilding of the hokage tower was almost complete and the hospital was now up and running. The rest of the village was well on its way, some of the buildings already having wooden structures.

Shizune's residence on the other hand wasn't really a home, currently she was staying in the hospital for the purpose of taking care of Tsunade. Unfortunately, that meant that Mei and Yahiko were also staying there, since they had already made a deal with Ibiki that they would stay with Shizune.

Mei walked to the hospital doors and entered. Most of the villagers overlooked, Mei's involvement with an S-class criminal_, _mostly due to her having healed them at some point. However, there were others who marked her as a traitor and thus they glared at her as she entered the building. Mei ignored the unfriendly stares, but nodded in acknowledgement to the friendly characters that greeted her.

Climbing the stairs, Mei made her way to the fourth floor, where she was staying. Shizune walked out of one of the rooms near the end of the hall and peered at Mei.

"There you are! You sure take your time; we need you on staff!" Shizune yelled.

"Sorry…" Mei said, not sounding very apologetic and more irritated.

Shizune sighed and then walked over to the green haired woman.

"The girl in room three won't take her medicine unless you administer it and another patient fell off his roof, while trying to rebuild his house. I'm understaffed at the moment since everyone is helping with the reconstruction process, so you have to do those two things for me." Shizune said.

"Sure…Uhm, have they waken up yet?" Mei asked, not referring to the two patients.

"Tsunade is still unconscious and Yahiko still hasn't waken up yet." Shizune said, frowning as she told the red eyed woman.

Mei sighed and then walked off to do her job. The girl in room three would be easier to handle, so Mei went there first. The little blonde girl had been gone during the invasion, but had caught a cold that required some medication. Her parents couldn't afford to get sick as well, since they were helping to repair the village, so their daughter had to stay in the hospital until she was at least not running a temperature.

"Hello, Tsukio." Mei said as she walked into the room.

"Hi Mei~" Tsukio said childishly.

Mei went over to the cabinet and pulled out a bottle with a purplish liquid inside. She poured a little of it into a cup and then handed it to Tsukio.

"Drink it." Mei said, not really sugaring up her words for the child.

Tsukio drank it with no complaint and then bounced around excitedly. Mei didn't really like children, mostly because they confused her. Their actions puzzled her and their language was not vast enough for her to completely understand. Thus, Mei did not try to baby children or treat them any different from adults, yet Tsukio still liked her.

"Can we go outside and play?" The little girl asked.

"I have another patient to attend to; perhaps there is someone else that would go outside with you." Mei said.

Tsukio pouted and then tugged on Mei's skirt.

"Please?" She begged.

"Fine, but I have to heal someone else first." Mei said, trying to remove the child from her person.

"Yay!" Tsukio said, getting back into the medical bed and swinging her legs back and forth.

Mei left the room and sighed, children confused her. She walked down the hall and opened another door to find a man with clearly a broken arm and leg. He smiled at her, even though he was probably in pain.

The man was probably in his thirties and had dark brown hair and green eyes. The lack of scarring and the lack of a headband indicated that he was not a ninja. He was probably a farmer or a shop keeper, Mei suspected.

"Hey, doc." He said.

"Morning…Shisui" Mei said, reading the clip board.

Mei walked over to the man and inspected his arm. She felt the break and Shisui winced.

"Be gentle with me." He said sarcastically, flirting with Mei.

She ignored the comment and then moved on to his leg. After a thorough inspection, it was concluded that the green eyed man had fractured his arm in three places and his leg in one.

"You need a splint for your leg and I need to realign the bones in your arm." Mei told him.

"Sure, whatever you have to do." Shisui replied still smiling.

Mei pulled a needle out of a drawer nearby and jabbed him without warning. His eyes widened and he yelped.

"You may feel a slight pinch." Mei said lamely.

"I already felt it." Shisui grumbled, not at all pleased with her quick actions.

"I just numbed your arm so that I can set the break." The green haired woman said, ignoring his comment yet again.

After giving the drug enough time to take affect, Mei reached out for his arm again. Shisui closed his eyes expecting the worse. Mei quickly reset his arm while her patient had his eyes closed. When she was finished she chuckled, because he still had his eyes closed expecting more pain to be inflicted.

"I just need to bandage your arm now." Mei said.

The green eyed man opened his eyes and blinked at her. He had expected it to hurt a lot more than it had. Her eyes stared at him in amusement and he looked away embarrassed.

As soon as she finished bandaging his arm Mei moved on to his leg. Because the break was smaller, it would be easier to heal, so she just used her healing chakra to set it. A light blue color was emitted as she worked her chakra into his leg and healed the damaged bone. The process was painless and the work was done quickly.

"All done." Mei said, sitting up.

"Really?" Shisui asked, moving his leg.

Mei watched him test his healed leg and almost snapped at him for not being careful. Although she had healed his break, it would still be easy to damage the same area again.

"Don't strain your leg or your arm too much; I refuse to heal the same wound twice." Mei said, face becoming slightly dangerous as she entertained the thought.

Shisui nodded and then Mei took her leave. As she walked back down the hall intending to return to her room, she heard a door slide open.

"Hey! You promised!" a childish voice said.

Mei turned around to see Tsukio pouting next to her room. Mei sighed but walked over to the child.

"Fine, where do you want to go?" Mei asked.

"I just want to walk around." The little girl said, blue eyes sparkling happily.

"Alright."

Tsukio grabbed Mei's hand and then dragged her down the hall.

"Let's go this way." Tsukio said, pulling Mei up the stairs.

Mei followed the girl, receiving strange stares from other nurses and doctors that passed her. Most were unaccustomed to Mei being very friendly especially to children.

Tsukio opened a door and Mei had to stop her from walking in on a patient.

"We can't go into any rooms." Mei said.

"Why?" Tsukio asked, pouting again.

"Because, there are patients that don't need to be bothered." Mei said.

Tsukio crossed her arms but nodded and continued down the hall, skipping and twirling as she went. A red haired nurse rounded a corner and nearly tripped over the blonde girl.

"Oh, what are you doing out of your room?" She asked.

"Mei is showing me around!" Tsukio said.

The nurse blinked at the girl and then looked over at Mei. Mei sighed and then nodded in acknowledgement, silently asking for the nurse to help her out.

"Well, your parents are here to see you and I was sent to get you." The nurse said honestly.

"Mom and Dad?" The girl asked cheerfully.

"Yes." The nurse continued.

Tsukio bounced up excitedly and the nurse took her hand to lead her away. Mei sighed in relief and then nodded at the nurse before heading back the way she had come.

Mei headed up the stairs and back to her room.

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As Mei opened the door, the smell of bleach assaulted her nose. She was used to the smell, but constantly being in a disinfected area was not appealing. The smell of fresh air would have been nicer.

The room itself was white with a single window in the back of the room. Medical utensils were sprawled about and cabinets lined the wall with different bottles of medicine, but at least she had a bed. There was also a couch off to the side of the room near a small kitchen. The kitchen simply consisted of a stove, a sink and a refrigerator.

Mei walked over to the bed and sat down, blinking at the man that was currently inhabiting it. Yahiko was laying there, hooked up to an IV. He was still unconscious from his beating. It had only been a day since they had gotten out of the cells, but it had been a week or so that he had been unconscious.

Mei reached out and touched his face, tracing her finger over the healing bruises and cuts. He had been cleaned up by Shizune and Mei and was stable, but he wasn't waking up. It was like he was just having a really long dream.

Yahiko didn't react to her touch, he just continued to breathe. Mei sighed and pulled her hand away, just a few weeks ago he was laughing and smiling at her, now he was reduced to a bedridden patient.

Mei sat up and moved over to the couch. She picked up the blankets that rested on the arm of her 'bed' and then curled up in them. The green haired woman sprawled out on the couch and then closed her eyes, hoping for at least an hour of rest before Shizune came looking for her again.

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A light touch woke Mei up, but she refused to open her eyes, if she did she knew she would have to go back to work.

"One more minute." Mei said, tiredly.

Arms linked around her waist and she felt herself being lifted up off the couch. Mei groaned and slowly opened her eyes as the character picking her up walked across the room. All she could see was bare skin, which just succeeded in confusing her more.

She was set down into a bed and Mei blinked up at the person in the dark, seeing their face for the first time.

"Yahiko?" Mei asked, blinking the sleep out of her eyes.

"Hmm." He said, pulling the blanket up around her.

Mei immediately sat up and wrapped her arms around his waist tiredly. Yahiko stood there in surprise, confused by her actions.

"When did you get up?" She asked him, loosening her grip as she realized what she was doing.

"Just a little bit ago." Yahiko responded.

"You've been out for at least a week." Mei murmured.

"A week?" He asked in disbelief.

"You're so stupid! Why didn't you just go when I told you to?" Mei said, switching moods quickly and releasing him.

"I owed you…" He said.

"You're still stupid." Mei said grumpily, starting to fully wake up from her sleep.

Yahiko chuckled and then walked over to the couch.

"You need to eat something." Mei said, standing up.

Her shirt was hanging off one shoulder and her skirt had ridden up too high. Mei pulled the garments back into place and then walked over to the kitchen. That's what she got for sleeping in her work clothes.

Yahiko walked up behind her and opened the fridge before Mei could reach it. She froze and blinked in surprise as his body pressed up against hers.

"I can get it, go back to sleep." He said

Mei moved out of the way and then walked over to the couch.

"I convinced Ibiki to let you stay here for awhile…" Mei said.

"Ibiki?" Yahiko asked from the fridge.

"The guy that beat the shit out of you." Mei said dryly.

Yahiko grunted and then continued to make himself something to eat.

"Are you still planning to find Konan?" The red eyed girl asked.

"Yes." He said.

Mei brought her feet up and let her chin rest on her knees as she watched Yahiko cook. For some reason his answer had saddened her, he was beginning to grow on her and the thought of him leaving was not desirable.

"Good, Danzo will probably kill you when he gets back." Mei said indifferently, although not really satisfied with her own words.

Yahiko walked over and sat down next to her with a bowl of what looked like soup. He was just wearing some baggy hospital pants.

"I'll sleep on the couch." Yahiko said.

"No, you're my patient and you're still healing so you have to sleep in the bed." Mei said stubbornly.

"I'm fine." Yahiko said, shoving a piece of chicken in his mouth.

"You were out cold for a week, you're not fine." Mei said harshly, glaring at him.

Yahiko chuckled at her behavior and waved a hand in defeat.

"Fine, but I don't want you to sleep on the couch." Yahiko said.

"Where the hell am I supposed to sleep then? On the floor? With you?" Mei asked, her last question referenced sarcastically.

Yahiko finished eating his soup and then walked back into the kitchen. Mei watched him go, irritated with his comment about not being able to sleep on the couch.

The orange haired man walked back over and picked Mei up again. She squirmed against him, frustrated by his sudden bout of physical contact.

"I can walk." She said growling.

"I know." Yahiko said.

He set her down on the bed again and then climbed in as well. Mei's red eyes flashed at him in surprise. He wasn't serious was he; her comment had simply been a sarcastic one.

"If I have to sleep in the bed, then you do too." He said, sounding like a five year old.

Mei rolled her eyes.

"Fine, but stay on your side or I'll disconnect your wrist from your arm." Mei said, indifferent again.

Yahiko ignored the comment and closed his eyes. Mei blinked at him and then smiled. She was glad that he had woken up.

She closed her eyes as well and then fell asleep.

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"Tobi, I have located Pain." A voice said quietly from the ceiling. Green plant like appendages bleeding though the wall.

"Good, I'm on my way, don't let him leave." A dark voice answered.

"**He's with a girl.**" The strange man said.

"Is she a threat?" The same dark voice asked.

"I don't know,** she has red eyes though." **The colored man said.

"Interesting." The other man said.

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Yeah, I realize I haven't update again in like a hundred years, but hopefully I will get at least one more chapter done before the end of break :3 Thanks again for all the comments! Give me ideas, writers block!


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